Everything 2018 Off Season

[golden]

No to kahwai...but it’s been an interesting distraction as the offseason starts to slow to a crawl....

On tanking....there is as much chance of that discussion ever stopping as you having the last word in a fight with your wife.

Slow is an understatement. Lead story on Hoopshype today:

"Georgios Papagiannis back to Europe?"

And it's looking more and more like the Spurs are willing to drag out the Kawhi saga to the bitter end and then play the martyr card if they don't fetch a king's ransom for a rental.

[TrueTorontoFan]

Slow is an understatement. Lead story on Hoopshype today:

"Georgios Papagiannis back to Europe?"

And it's looking more and more like the Spurs are willing to drag out the Kawhi saga to the bitter end and then play the martyr card if they don't fetch a king's ransom for a rental.

i dont know if i even want him at this point.. this is being dragged out far to long

and they are expecting far too much.

[inthepaint]

So, Pistons signed Zaza Pachulia. I'm actually curious to see how Casey is gonna play him and Drummond after his years coaching JV. My guess is very little 4th quarter minutes for those guys.

[The Great One]

This is HILARIOUS. Clarkson is trash lol.

DeMar DeRozan and Jordan Clarkson on the same team? That's a scary sight. @DeMar_DeRozan @JordanClarksons pic.twitter.com/FgF9zCz2Hp

— SLAM Magazine (@SLAMonline) July 16, 2018

[LJ2]

i dont know if i even want him at this point.. this is being dragged out far to long

and they are expecting far too much.

I think Spurs used us to put a scare into Leonard's camp. Like saying work with us or we can send you to where ever we chose.

[The Claw Reborn]

Watching Drew League is like watching Raptors Isolation basketball at the grassroots level.

LMAO

[DogeLover1234]

I think Spurs used us to put a scare into Leonard's camp. Like saying work with us or we can send you to where ever we chose.

Curious how much of the last month has been the Spurs and Lakers trying to shift the narrative to gain leverage in a deal. Wouldn't be surprised if that's where he ends up, don't see them wasting a LeBron year.

[LJ2]

Where did all that (self inflicted) Kawahi trade to Toronto momentum go? It feels like the longer it takes the more unlikely it will be that Toronto is his landing spot.

[octothorp]

Where did all that (self inflicted) Kawahi trade to Toronto momentum go? It feels like the longer it takes the more unlikely it will be that Toronto is his landing spot.

My hunch is that Toronto made an offer that was good enough for Spurs to give permission for Toronto to talk to Leonard, and either it's taking time for that meeting to happen, or it's happened and Masai failed to win over Leonard on being open to staying beyond this season.

[DanH]

Where did all that (self inflicted) Kawahi trade to Toronto momentum go? It feels like the longer it takes the more unlikely it will be that Toronto is his landing spot.

I would have thought the opposite. The longer this drags out, the less interest there likely is across the league, meaning the more likely the Raptors can win a bidding war. If the Spurs were getting top notch offers, they'd likely move to get the story over with sooner.

[Shaolin Fantastic]

I think a DeMar deal is more likely but could we also get Kawhi in a JV-based package? The Spurs loved him previously and he's still 25 and had a bunch of career highs last year in key advanced statistics. Averaged nearly 20-15 per 36. They might think they can get a star out of him with a more expansive role.

Something like Valanciunas, Siakam, Wright, our 2019 1st and a pick in 2021 with some protections (risky to include)?

EDIT:

I think after this kind of deal you could go with this lineup:

PG: Lowry/FVV
SG: DeMar/Powell
SF: Kawhi/Miles
PF: Ibaka/OG
C: Poeltl/(FA)

Could close games with Lowry/DeMar/Kawhi/OG/Ibaka.

[LJ2]

I would have thought the opposite. The longer this drags out, the less interest there likely is across the league, meaning the more likely the Raptors can win a bidding war. If the Spurs were getting top notch offers, they'd likely move to get the story over with sooner.

Any GM that loses interest in acquiring a top 5 player should be fired. If all offers are relatively the same all it's going to take is one team to up the anti and it's done. And I'm sure Masai isn't the only one who has tried to up the anti if that is the case.

I get the impression the hang up is more likely due to Kawahi and his camp. Perhaps he's telling all suitors he won't play for them much less resign. Such a bizarre situation, but I'm impressed and frustrated with how little is being leaked.

[DanH]

I think a DeMar deal is more likely but could we also get Kawhi in a JV-based package? The Spurs loved him previously and he's still 25 and had a bunch of career highs last year in key advanced statistics. Averaged nearly 20-15 per 36. They might think they can get a star out of him with a more expansive role.

Something like Valanciunas, Siakam, Wright, our 2019 1st and a pick in 2021 with some protections (risky to include)?

It's possible, but seems really unlikely. Like, the Spurs could also just wait and grab him as a free agent by outbidding the market, considering the prices for centres these days. Ultimately his value in the trade would be secondary to the value of the picks and prospects - in which case they'd better value him very highly, as our picks and prospects are almost certainly a big step below even the tertiary offers other teams can make.

Really, though, if we are talking giving up future 1sts, that's where we should really be refusing to include anything that helps us win (and therefore helps us have a chance to keep Leonard long term), as the risk to the upcoming rebuild would be pretty high. So the salary ballast should almost certainly be Ibaka/Norm/Miles before JV. Of course, then you circle back to why the Spurs are interested.... Hmm. Tough to figure.

If they can build a deal similar to the DeMar one around JV, great. If it's going to mean adding in a 2021 pick or OG... not sure. I really do think DeMar fits poorly beside Kawhi and would hinder rather than help with keeping him.

[DanH]

Any GM that loses interest in acquiring a top 5 player should be fired. If all offers are relatively the same all it's going to take is one team to up the anti and it's done. And I'm sure Masai isn't the only one who has tried to up the anti if that is the case.

I get the impression the hang up is more likely due to Kawahi and his camp. Perhaps he's telling all suitors he won't play for them much less resign. Such a bizarre situation, but I'm impressed and frustrated with how little is being leaked.

No, I don't mean the interest is decreasing as this drags out. Just that if the interest was high to begin with (ie good offers from the Lakers, 76ers, Clippers, etc), that the deal would probably be done by now. The Spurs get a good return and get rid of the narrative ASAP.

I mean the interest has been consistently low, and therefore this is dragging out. And that's the only scenario where the Raptors were ever in the picture to begin with. Longer this drags, the more confident I am there is not an A-grade offer for Kawhi on the market at all, bringing the Raptors' B-offer into the mix with a real chance to be the best offer out there.

The reason for that low interest could indeed be coming from Kawhi's camp. No reason to think it's not. But I do think it's important for Kawhi to play this year to show he is still Kawhi and demand the attention and deal he wants from wherever he wants to go, and he sure doesn't want to have to play in SA, so I'd think the messages from his team are more along the lines of "I won't re-sign" rather than "I won't play."

[A.I]

Any GM that loses interest in acquiring a top 5 player should be fired. If all offers are relatively the same all it's going to take is one team to up the anti and it's done. And I'm sure Masai isn't the only one who has tried to up the anti if that is the case.

I get the impression the hang up is more likely due to Kawahi and his camp. Perhaps he's telling all suitors he won't play for them much less resign. Such a bizarre situation, but I'm impressed and frustrated with how little is being leaked.

Teams like the Celtics and Sixers can lose interest and hold off on going for Kawhi because both teams are built for the future. They can’t get Kawhi for the right price, no point getting him.